Bank of Ireland is to invest €10 million in the Impact Ireland USA Fund, an investment vehicle run by Dublin-headquartered Venturewave Capital and backed by U2 members The Edge and Adam Clayton.
The fund invests in what Venturewave Captial describes as “mission driven” tech start-ups that have the potential to deliver social and environmental benefits while ensuring financial returns for stakeholders.
The Impact Ireland USA Fund is the third fund operated by Venturewave Capital and the target for the fund is €100 million.
“It invests commercially in high-growth, mission-driven technology companies across health, education, food and agriculture, climate and sustainable finance,” it said.
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“Its investments are focused on businesses aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” it said, noting the approach was designed to demonstrate that commercial performance and positive impact can be “complementary objectives”.
Bank of Ireland’s investment is the first by a pillar bank here and follows a similar investment from Bank of America.
“Bank of Ireland becoming our first Irish pillar investor is particularly significant,” Kieran McLoughlin, co-founder and managing partner of Venturewave Capital, said.
“Impact Ireland was created in Ireland with a global ambition, and having an Irish financial institution with such reach and reputation invest alongside our international partners strengthens both the fund and the businesses we support,” he said.
Myles O’Grady, group chief executive of Bank of Ireland, said: “At the core of Bank of Ireland’s strategy is our strong support for Irish businesses at home and on the global stage.
“We pair this with a firm commitment to sustainability and to playing our part in helping tackle some of the challenges society faces today,” he said.
The bank said the investment was aligned with its wider sustainability ambitions.
Bank of Ireland’s strategy to 2028 includes support for green transition, housing and social infrastructure, and social inclusion, “with the objective of supporting a resilient economy.”
Sustainability-related lending at Bank of Ireland reached €17.7 billion by the end of 2025, exceeding its €15 billion target, with the bank aiming to get it to €30 billion by 2030.
The bank also aims to reduce carbon emissions by 49 per cent by 2030 in line with its Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) carbon reduction target.
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Alan Foy and his business partner Brian Martin, who previously led Irish tech company Blueface, became managing partners of Venturewave in 2020 along with Kieran McLoughlin, who stepped down as the New York-based chief executive of The Ireland Funds in 2018.
Venturewave led a $40 million (€35.5 million) investment in angel investing and trading platform Funderbeam, taking a majority stake, in 2023.
